The 4th International Conference on Financing for Development (FfD4) is due to take place in Seville, Spain from 30 June to 3 July 2025. According to the United Nations (UN) Member States, the conference is designed to assess progress and obstacles in implementing the outcomes of the three previous FfD conferences in Monterrey (2002), Doha (2008) and Addis Ababa (2015), as well as agreeing on measures and initiatives to overcome obstacles and address new challenges in the face of global crises. The main aim is to accelerate implementation of the 2030 Agenda and its Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and to support the reform of the international financial architecture.
Two factors are crucial for the success of the FfD4 conference: first, governments must agree on verifiable steps to mobilize urgently needed additional financial resources and initiate overdue structural reforms; and second, they must agree on procedures and governance arrangements to monitor and review the implementation of the decisions in the follow-up process.
The UN has a key role to play in the governance arrangements. However, the UN’s role is not limited to the area of monitoring and review. For years, governments from the Global South and civil society organizations (CSOs) have consistently called for a stronger role for the UN in setting global norms and coordinating international economic governance. This applies in particular to tax policy, the management of debt crises, international development cooperation and the regulation of transnational corporations.
This briefing describes the institutional framework through which the outcomes of previous FfD conferences have been monitored and further developed at the UN level. It also examines current proposals for the monitoring and follow-up of the forthcoming FfD4 conference, highlights good practices from other policy areas and explores which UN bodies and processes could play a role in shaping the international financial architecture following the Seville conference.
